The Leveling of Humanity CH 3

Chase and Emily were the first to leave the parked car and start into the open field full of glowing orbs. Gary and Sofie came behind them, excitedly rushing into the open area. They all ran to one of the glowing spheres and crushed one. Chase was startled as a notification appeared in the bottom right of his vision.

Wisp of Light (Light Blue)

Lv. 1

0/1 HP

1XP

A simple window opened and closed in a mere moment, but one that made Chase feel more excited and exhilarated than he had in months. He quickly ran to another wisp, this one red. As he started to stomp on it, he paused, foot mid-motion.

"Everyone, wait!" He shouted, and the other three paused as they, too, went to their second orbs. "Only... Only crush the same colored ones as your first one. My first one was light blue. Emily, what color was your first wisp?" She paused for a moment, then nodded while standing straighter.

"It was orange."

"Mine was dark blue," Gary said while looking around and moving towards a nearby dark blue wisp. "That's a good idea. Even if it doesn't affect anything, we should at least try."

"Mine was a dark green," Sofie said while excitedly running over to where several dark green wisps were clustered together, "I don't think anyone on the forums talked about crushing all of one color. So that was a great idea." Working under Chase's hunch, the group quickly crushed ten wisps and received a single, simple message.

You have leveled up!

Then moments later, two quiet notifications displayed.

Hidden Quest Complete:

Meticulous Observations

'Hunted ten of the same colored wisps in the tutorial battles.'

It was something different, something special, and they'd all completed that. Then a second message chimed and displayed.

Hidden Quest Complete:

Quick Study

'Leveled up to level 2 in the allotted time.'

Chase turned to Emily, embracing her firmly.

"Thank you for bringing me here Em. You have no idea how much this means to me." Emily hugged him back, lingering a bit longer than strictly necessary as the two separated.

"We wouldn't have thought to stick to a single color wisp. So yeah, you were a big help there," Emily turned to join the others, then softly added, "I wouldn't have wanted to do this without you, Chase."

Together they walked side by side back to the car. Once there, they all opened their status windows.

Congratulations, Humanity player, you have leveled up! Please select the leveling type you prefer: Combat, Support, Domestic, or Utility. The combat option was glowing gold, and as he looked at the others, he could see them focusing intently just as he was.

"Glowing gold option for me. Are you guys seeing this too?" Chase asked, with everyone slowly nodding in agreement, "Mine has combat glowing."

"I already clicked on mine," Gary announced and then started grinning, "Spellcasting subclass special option, Druidic Caster class. Have you guys ever heard of a Druidic Caster?" He asked excitedly while selecting the option with his hand rather than his mind. Sofie shook her head no,

"No way! That's awesome! Let's see what I got," Sofie excitedly selected her option, with less hand gesture than Gary had used, "Combat class, and... huh. That's weird. I got Paladin. I was hoping for something more on the support side of things." Chase turned towards Emily. She shook her head and looked surprisingly downcast.

"I'll go next," Chase offered, picking up on her body language and giving her a moment. Then, as his eyes shifted to his options, he read out loud for the others. "Combat as well.." He paused, surprised that there were still multiple options on the menu. Fighter, Spellcaster, and glowing in gold was a third option Tactician.

"Chase? What did you get?" Sofie asked, excitement evident in her voice.

"Oh, sorry," Chase responded while straightening up slightly, "Tactician is mine. Any ideas what that means?"

"It's gotta be something good, man," Gary said with enthusiasm. "It's your hidden class option. It's probably because you figured out how we were supposed to get these special classes in the first place."

"That makes a lot of sense," Sofie hurridly agreed, "Anything else change?" Chase shook his head, then turned to Emily,

"What is your hidden class?" He asked her while officially selecting Tactician for himself, his mind suddenly felt sharper, and he got a notification informing him that he had five stat points available to spend.

"Not gonna lie Soph," Emily said while forcing a smile and turning to Sofie, "I was really hoping to get Paladin myself. Been daydreaming about it most of the car ride here. Mine is in support. Specifically the Aspiring Craftsman class. Aspiring, not even Craftsman, just someone aspiring to be special." Gary and Sofie exchanged glances and then to Chase.

"Em, it's probably a great class, but if you don't want it, you should select one of the other generic classes instead," Chase said while putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Emily turned to him with a weak smile.

"No. It's a special class. I know I'd be an idiot for passing up on it I just wish..." She let her words trail off as she glanced again longingly at Sofie. A pang of jealousy washed over her features once more, "I just wish I'd gotten something different. Maybe I'll learn to love this."

"Emily, I'd trade you if I could. I wanted a support role." Sofie said while moving over and giving Emily a firm hug.

"It's fine. Ugh." Emily said while smiling and wiping her eyes. "I'm just jealous of you guys." As she said this, a chime blared. Then a notification window opened up.

Congratulations, Humanity, on clearing Phase 1. Phase 2 will now commence for those of you pursuing levels, please proceed to the nearest dungeon beacon. These locations have been selected from the most remote regions for your convenience.

The ground began shaking, and a stone tower could be seen rising in the distance where the beam of light descended. The first dungeon had spawned.

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I hope you're enjoying my story The Leveling of Humanity, if you are please continue reading in the next chapter: https://vocal.media/fiction/the-leveling-of-humanity-ch-4